March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Research In Motion Ltd. reported
revenue and profit that fell short of analysts’ estimates and
said it will discontinue giving financial forecasts as demand
for BlackBerry smartphones wanes.

Fourth-quarter earnings excluding one-time items fell to 80
cents a share and sales dropped 25 percent to $4.19 billion, the
Waterloo, Ontario-based company said today in a statement.
Analysts predicted earnings of 81 cents and sales of $4.51
billion, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg. RIM
also said Jim Balsillie, its former co-chief executive officer,
has resigned from the board.

CEO Thorsten Heins, who took the top job in January, is
trying to turn around a company which has lost market share to
Android devices and Apple Inc.’s iPhone because of aging
technology, marketing gaffes and product delays. While he has
vowed to persuade more consumers to snap up new Bold, Curve and
Torch models that offer better touch-screen navigation and Web
browsing, that isn’t yet happening, said Michael Walkley, an
analyst at Canaccord Genuity in Minneapolis.

“The iPhone, Android smartphones and new Windows
smartphones have extended the feature and functionality gap”
over BlackBerry 7 devices, which are struggling with “weak sell-through,” Walkley, who recommends holding RIM shares, said
before the report.

While the BlackBerry outsells the iPhone in Latin America
and the Middle East, plummeting U.S. sales meant that RIM’s
share of the global smartphone market slid to 8.2 percent in the
fourth quarter from 14 percent a year earlier, according to
research firm IDC. Apple’s share in that period rose to 24
percent from 16 percent.

RIM rose 0.4 percent to $13.73 at the close in New York.
The stock tumbled 75 percent last year and has dropped 5.3
percent this year.

Net loss last quarter was $125 million, or 24 cents a
share, compared with a profit of $934 million, or $1.78, a year
earlier.